Open your eyes
by TeaTheUnicorn
Summary: Taryn is a stubborn, judgemental teen, but will meeting a strange boy change all that? What happens when this mysterious stranger worms his way into her life?
1. Helping hand

Open your eyes

People walked passed, only a few sparing a glance for the girl with empty eyes, perched on the grass with her legs folded beneath her. No-one ever seemed to notice her. Taryn Aslow often sat alone, not that she minded, people got in the way of her thoughts, and if someone was talking, it would just complicate things.

In her hands was a book, the words printed as dots on the page as her experienced hands ran across it. She loved reading, it had been her retreat ever since she was six. _When you read, _she thought, _your mind floats away, shrouded by the pictures the story paints. _A loud ringing sounded in her sensitive ears, and she recognised it as being the school's end of lunch bell. She could hear a crowd beggining to form in front of her, the sounds of a hundred or so footsteps thudding like those of an elephant. School had taken some getting used to, but it wasn't so difficult anymore, she had memorised roughly how many steps it took to get from her usual spot down to the main building, and if that failed her she would listen for a familiar voice, swallow her pride and ask for help.

Asking for help was something Taryn rarely did. She wasn't too keen on the idea of people thinking she was weak, useless, _pathetic_. What good was a girl who didn't know left from right? Couldn't tell where she was going, what she was doing? _None, _Taryn thought to herself. She was just beggining a measured decent from the grassy hill she sat on when she tripped, something was in her way, an obstacle she didn't see. The girl closed clear eyes and braced herself for a fall, raising her arms in an attempt to sheild her face.

She hit the ground with a thud, taking the impact along her left side, the cold pavement painfully cracking her elbow. The thumping footsteps stopped momentarily, and Taryn could feel their eyes on her, mocking her. She bit her lip as a quiet chuckle sounded from somewhere behind her, improved sense of heaing enabled her to pick up on the half-hidden gesture. The girl pushed her arms against the pavement, lifting her body into a sitting position so she could carefully run her right hand over her side, check for injuries. Thankfully, she heard everybody moving along, the amusement short-lived. _Praise the Lord, the humilation is over, _the bitter words rang in her ears as she determined that she wasn't hurt, just a little sore. There would probably be bruises, but nothing serious.

Without any warning a hand grasped her wrist firmly through her jacket, pulling her with surprising care to her feet. She allowed it because she figured it might be one of the girls she sometimes talked to, when she had to work with someone in a lesson, or ask about what was going on. Taryn turned her head upwards when she heard a voice, deep and strong.

"You okay?" He sounded genuinly concerned, which was odd.

Taryn nodded and quickly broke her arm away from his grip. She cleared her throat before speaking. "Thank you, whoever you are."

A pleasant chuckle filled the air. "I'm a friend. Just be careful next time, 'kay?" Taryn noted that there was a lilt in his voice, an accent that she just couldn't place.

"Uh, yeah. I-" She paused for a moment, considering her words. "I just didn't notice that thing." She waved a hand towards the hill, hopefully indicating her obstacle.

"There's nothing there." He replied, confusion contributing to his tone.

Taryn huffed. "There must be. I wouldn't just trip over thin air. I might be blind but I'm not useless!" She raised her voice, anger welling up at the unspoken accusation.

"Calm down. Someone must o' moved it, y'know? Prevent other people from hurting themselves." He suggested helpfully.

A second bell sounded, making the girl jump.

"Oh, crap. I'm gonna be late." She started walking, but the boy's voice once again cut through the air.

"You're going the wrong way."

She flushed and turned quickly. "I knew that." Was her muttered response as she broke into a brisk walk, holding her hands out a little infront of her, preventing a collision.

The boy was keeping pace with her. "I'll walk you to your next lesson. We're in the same class." Taryn could hear the smile in his voice.

"I don't need your help." She snapped, and soon the footsteps beside her dissappeared. _He was just trying to help, _her mind reasoned, _why do you have to be soquick to judge? _The girl winced a little when she realised that his intentions were probably sincere, he only wanted to make sure she didn't get into anymore trouble. Taryn's conscience was ranting away at her as she carefully made her way to the psychology room.


	2. Home

Open your eyes

She sat, leaning her head on her arms, not really taking in anything that was being said. Her hand was doodling idly across the paper splayed across the desk. Taryn couldn't help but listen to the little nagging voice resonating through her mind. _So stubborn, why can't you just let someone help you? It's not going to make the slightest bit of difference concerning what they say about you. They pity you, and you're letting them. _At that last comment she snapped her head off the table and turned to face the direction of the Professors aged voice, gathering quickly that they were discussing the affects of schizophrenia. Psychology was interesting, but hard. It wasn't that she didn't understand the language, or the theories, it was more to do with the fact she couldn't reference to charts and scans like the others, she had to rely on instinct.

An familiar feeling of discomfort began to appear, and she realised that someone was watching her. It wasn't hard to tell, she could practically feel the eyes on her, cool and critical. It made her squirm a little, hoping whoever it was would notice and have the common curtesy to stop. It took all she had to restrain herself from yelling. Taryn didn't like people watching her, so she was relieved when the lesson ended, and it was time for them to go home. She lifted her bag from the chair beside her and scooped all her papers into it with little trouble. Taryn had a nack for the simple tasks, it was navigating that caused her the most problems. Even before the accident she hadn't been very good at it, often getting lost, even if she knew the place she was in. It was one of life's little obstacles.

A hand tapped her on the shoulder as she was walking to the door, she turned, prepared to defend herself, flinging out an arm as she did so. She felt her hand collide with something hard, and winced, giving a little hiss.

"Woah. Y'okay?" The accented voice asked.

Taryn narrowed sightless eyes. "You again." She huffed. "Come back to patronise me some more, have you? Well, I don't need your pity."

A soft chuckle emerged from the boy. "I was just gon' tell ya that you left your jacket hooked over the chair."

The girl blushed and closed her mouth, pouting. Taryn felt a cool hand on her arm, turning it to place the jacket in her grip. Only, it didn't get that far. When his fingers closed on her skin she felt it. Like an electric shock it sent a tingling feeling through her body, making her feel a little light headed so she staggered to lean on the nearest table. She heard an inward breath from her aquaintance, and figured he had done something. She snatched her arm back and opened her mouth to yell, "What the heck do you think your doing? Trying to pull some stunt? Well, congrats you got me!" Her cheeks were burning as she stormed from the room, not bothering to take her jacket from him.

_I don't need to put up with that, _she thought bitterly, _he's just a stupid jerk trying to get a rise out of me. _The more logical part of her mind retorted as she hauled her bag onto her shoulder and carefully calculated her walk home. _Don't jump to conclusions, he could have just been trying to help you, maybe you're sick, _Taryn scoffed, she _never _got sick, and nobody tried to help her, she had warned them all off. _I don't need help, I'm perfectly capable of functioning on my own. _She was in the middle of a self-assuring speech when she heard the loud honking of a cars horn.

"Crap!" She cussed, speeding up as she heard the driver shouting obscenities at her. _Concentrate on where you're going, _she thought, _you can't be far away now. _Her estimation was right, in ten minutes she felt the small arms of a child wrap around her waist and she knew exactly where she was.

Caplin's Children's Home was a rather large building, and the halls were full of the sounds of children, laughing, crying, fighting, but it was home. Taryn was one of the eldest, at sixteen the only resident older than her was a boy called Connor, and he wasn't very good company anyway.

"Smoky! You're back!" The little girl, Kim, exclaimed, grabbing the older girl's hand in hers and lead her into the warmth of the building. A wave of voices washed over her as she pushed the door shut behind her. Kim let go of Taryn's hand as her name was called from somewhere upstairs so the older girl was left to navigate alone. Her foot caught on something and she went flying for the second time that day, once again catching the fall on her side.

"Who moved the furniture?" She yelled, fuming. She hated it when they did that, it was almost as if they neglected to think of her when they were rearranging the house. They could have at least given her some warning.

She was startled by a voice behind her, but relaxed when she recognised it as being Mrs Caplin herself, the woman who ran the home. "Taryn? Can we see you for a moment in the office." It was more of a statement than a question, so she really had no choice but to follow the footsteps of her carer.

The talking stopped when she was walking through the halls, but it wasn't really a surprise. Everybody knew when you got called to the office, it was never a good thing.


End file.
